<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Junior by DeckofDragons</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27695041">Junior</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeckofDragons/pseuds/DeckofDragons'>DeckofDragons</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Super Mario Bros. (Video Games)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, Kidnapping, Mentions of Bowser's unnamed ex, Origin story for why 'Mama Peach' was a thing, Soon to be single dad Bowser, Sort of onesdied Peach/Bowser, Unambiguously bi/pan Bowser, Villains being Villains</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 03:03:18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,719</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27695041</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeckofDragons/pseuds/DeckofDragons</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Bowser unexpectedly finds himself set to be a single dad. He decides his unhatched child deserves at least one other parent though and chooses a ruler from a nearby kingdom to fill that role.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Bowser &amp; Kamek, Koopa | Bowser &amp; Koopa Jr | Bowser Jr</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Junior</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Just and idea about why Bowser might've told Junior that Peach was his mother.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>She’d left him, gone back to her kingdom an ocean away. Which was fine, they’d done their best to make it work but it just wasn’t no matter how good a match Kamek and her parents had insisted it was supposed to be. So Bowser was honestly relieved she’s taken the initiative and finally ended it by leaving in the middle of the night. Her only farewell was a letter, explaining her reasons for leaving and a gift.</p><p>In a plain unwrapped box, she’d left it on the table in his room. The letter warned that it was fragile and oddly had apologized for leaving it with him. Which didn’t make much sense; if it was something bad enough she had to apologize for it, why leave a gift at all? And even more why had she assured him that it was his? Who else could it possibly be for?</p><p>Pulling back the lids of the box revealed an oblong shape, a bit bigger than his fist and wrapped in a soft cloth resting on a cushion. Keeping in mind its fragility, he carefully lifted it with one hand to unwrap it with the other. … An egg. Why would she leave him an egg? It didn’t make sense unless it was…</p><p>“Ah shit!”</p><p>That couldn’t be it though, could it? She’d have told him, right? … Maybe not, they’d never talked much and thus he didn’t know her as well as one think despite their arranged marriage having lasted almost three whole years before one of them had finally taken the initiative and left.</p><p>Shaking a little, he <em>carefully</em> placed the egg back on its cushion. He then rushed back over to his nightstand where he’d left the letter to reread it. … Suddenly her apology for the gift and the assurance that it was his made a lot more sense.</p><p>Growling, he balled up the paper and tossed it. She was a deadbeat, leaving him to raise their child on his own, how dare she? Whatever, he didn’t need her, he could do it on his own just fine so she could go fuck herself for all he cared.</p><p>A good deal of his anger and resolve faded though as he returned to the table to look down at the egg, nestled snugly on the cushion, the soft cloth still partially wrapped around it. How the hell was he supposed to do this alone? He wasn’t ready to be a dad yet. That wasn’t supposed to happen for a few more years at <em>least</em>.</p><p>Holding back a groan, he returned to his nightstand again to ring the magic bell to summon Kamek. About a minute later Kamek arrived through the secret passageway that connected his lab to Bowser’s room.</p><p>“Sir?” he said as the wall closed behind him.</p><p>“I’m sure you’ve heard the news by now.” With the way rumors normally ran through the castle, Bowser was likely one of the last to find out because there was no way she’d snuck out without someone seeing her. Whoever had spotted her would’ve told everyone long before Bowser had even woken up this morning.</p><p>“Yes, I’ve heard. You want me to send people after her?”</p><p>“No, why would I want you do that? I’m glad she’s gone.” Or at least he would be if the sole thing they could both enjoy together hadn’t led to his current predicament. They should’ve been more careful but… it was too late now and she’d left him to deal with the consequences alone. “She left me this though.” Carefully, Bowser pulled the egg out again to show Kamek.</p><p>“Oh uh… I suppose you have an heir now sir, which was the whole point of the arrange marriage so congrats.”</p><p>“What do you mean ‘congrats’? How am I supposed to handle this?”</p><p>“Very carefully sir, especially once the shell hardens. That’s when it’ll be its most fragile.”</p><p>Bowser growled at him. “You know what I meant. How am I supposed to take care of a kid?”</p><p>“Well, I can tell you from experience it is very difficult to raise a child, especially as a single parent. If they end up being anything like you were as a kid, you’ll certainly have your work cut out for you. However, you do have the option to give it up for adoption or hire a nanny to do all the work for you. So really sir, you don’t have to raise them if you’d prefer not to.”</p><p>Both of those <em>were</em> options. Going the adoption route, he’d have to be very secretive about it to mitigate the chances of rumors about this popping up. The nanny route would probably be easiest and no one would fault him for it, he already had enough responsibility ruling his kingdom without adding raising a child on top of that. But… it didn’t feel right to do that, not for him anyway.</p><p>“No,” he said as he pulled the egg closer to his chest. Its shell was still soft and so <em>fragile</em>. It’d be far too easy to damage it by accident. But despite that… “I’m keeping them and raising myself. Their name is… Bowser; Bowser Junior.” Regardless of whatever their gender would end up being, he wanted to name them after himself. “So help me. You’ve supposedly done this before,” his parents had died before he’d even hatched, leaving Kamek as his sole caretaker, “tell me what I’m supposed to do.”</p><p>“For now, just keep the egg warm and dry. Near but not right next to a space heater should do nicely. Talk to them occasionally, especially as they get closer to hatching. When they hatch is when the real works begins, that won’t be for a year or more though so there’s plenty of time to prepare for that.”</p><p>A year, that’s how long Bowser had to prepare for his role as a single father. That both felt like a long time and a terribly short time. There was nothing that could be done about it though. “Very well,” he said as he looked back up at Kamek. “Bring me a space heater and something to act as a cradle, either through the secret passage or teleport it straight here so one sees. I want this kept a secret for now.” He’d have to announce it eventually but not yet. He needed some time to prepare for that announcement and he wanted to wait for the rumors about his now ex-wife leaving to have died down a little.</p><p>“Yes sir.” Kamek was the only one in the whole castle who could be trusted to keep a secret. “And well… I’m proud of you for taking on this responsibility. I believe you’ll be a good father.” With that, he turned and left through the secret passage.</p><p>“I hope so,” Bowser replied with a sigh as the hidden door closed, becoming a wall once more.</p><p> </p><p>Over the next few months, he got used to the idea of being a dad. He talked to Junior every day, in the morning upon waking up and at night before going to bed. There was still one thing that bothered him though.</p><p>“You need another parent,” he said as he sat down by the egg cradle one night. He’d had Kamek get him some parenting books to act as another source of information on what do about raising a kid and they’d mentioned that two or more parents was the ideal. More would probably be better, right? But he personally preferred the idea of a monogamous relationship and finding one good partner would be difficult enough, let alone any more. “So I’m going to get you one before you hatch, all right? You’ll love them I’m sure.” Hopefully anyway.</p><p>The next day, he set Kamek the task of complying as much information about the rulers of all the nearby kingdoms as was possible. Marrying a fellow monarch made the most sense, right? It would expand the lands they both ruled and would give Junior more to inherit when it came time for them to do so.</p><p>It took almost a whole week before Kamek returned to him with what he’d found. He’d organized it in large blank binder that he handed to Bowser in his room because despite everything, Bowser hadn’t announced Junior’s existence or his new marriage plans to the world yet.</p><p>Each page in the binder was devoted to a layout of information about the primary ruler of all a nearby kingdom, such as name, age, gender, a picture of course, marriage status, and a paragraph of general personality information and backstory. The first page was for King Bomb-omb. He had an attractive mustache and a decent bio <em>but</em> he was already married. After that was King Boo but he was dead and therefore not likely to be a good step parent and the weird tongue thing boos had going on was <em>not</em> something Bowser was into. Queen Bean would’ve been a good option but she too was married.</p><p>The fourth page was the profile for the Mushroom Kingdom ruler: Princess Peach Toadstool. Finally, someone who was single <em>and</em> alive but… “If she’s the ruler of the Mushroom King why is she still a princess and why is she human? Isn’t the Mushroom Kingdom populated by Toads?”</p><p>“According to what I’ve been able to gather,” Kamek replied, “she was adopted by the former ruler at a young age and declared the heir of the kingdom. However, Toad law is strange, for reasons I haven’t been able to figure out, the actual title of ‘queen’ can only be held by a Toad. Despite that, Princess Toadstool is no less ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom. It doesn’t make much sense but that’s pretty standard when discussing Toads.”</p><p>Bowser grunted because that was certainly true; the bastards all had names that started with ‘Toad’ which was just plain nonsensical. “And they’re all right with their ruler being human despite that law? Really?” Wouldn’t they want a proper queen?</p><p>“Supposedly she is a very good and kind ruler so yes, they’re more than happy to have her as their ruler.”</p><p>“Hmmm…” Bowser looked back down at her profile. Everything Kamek had just told him was written there as well some more about her generosity. She was young too, around the human equivalent of his own age – based off what he’d heard of how humans aged anyway. … “I want her,” he decided, tapping her picture with his claw. “She’s perfect.” Her kingdom directly bordered his and Junior deserved a kind mother, especially since Bowser had trouble being kind himself.</p><p>“Of course, sir. Would you like me to send an envoy with a message about your intent to court her? Or would you like to write the missive yourself?”</p><p>“I’ll just take an airship down there to talk to her myself.” Bowser didn’t have time for letters and all that nonsense. He needed to make sure she’d be good mom and then marry her before Junior hatched which was still several months away but undoubtedly those months would pass by in flash.</p><p>***</p><p>“Welcome back Your Majesty,” Kamek said as ascended the airship’s boarding ramp to greet Bowser. “How did things go in the Mushroom Kingdom?” As if that needed to be asked with how short a time Bowser had been gone and the less than happy look on his face; he’d <em>clearly</em> been rejected. Which was not surprising in the least and now it would be Kamek’s job to soothe his ego for however long he chose to be grumpy about this.</p><p>“Uh… it went well,” Bowser said which <em>was</em> a surprise. “Sort of anyway, really depends on what counts as ‘going well’.” Oh no, he’d done something less than smart, hadn’t he? Bad enough to start a war with the Mushroom Kingdom? Before Kamek could try to find an innocuous way to ask…</p><p>“Untie me this instant you <em>horrible</em> people!”</p><p>A group of koopatroopas and shy guys were dragging a bound woman out of the captain’s cabin. Naturally she was quite displeased about it as was not going easily.</p><p>“Uh… sir, is that Princess Toadstool?” Kamek asked because it looked an awful lot like her pictures.</p><p>“Yep,” Bowser said before raising his voice to instruct the minions carrying her. “Take her up to one of the tower top rooms, one of the ones with the lock on the outside. And keep a guard on the door at all times too just in case. Untie her though, I don’t want her to hurt herself.”</p><p>“Yes sir!” the minions spoke in unison before hustling to do as ordered.</p><p>“You won’t get away with this,” the princess shouted over them, earning more excited murmurs from the minions who’d gathered to watch.</p><p>With a sigh, Kamek turned back to look at Bowser again. “May I have a word with you in private Your Royal Spikiness?”</p><p>“Fine but make it quick, I got to prepare a proper greeting for my guest.” With a huff, Bowser led the way back onto the airship and into the private cabin. “Now what is it?” he demanded after slamming the door shut.</p><p>“Sir, may I ask why you chose to kidnap Princess Toadstool? I was under the impression you’d gone to court her.” Kamek kept his tone neutral in part because he wasn’t really sure how to feel about it. There were benefits to having a rival kingdom’s ruler held hostage but Bowser’s supposed goals might just lead to a huge mess instead. Still though, even that might be exciting, things had been too peaceful and boring lately.</p><p>“I did but she rejected my engagement offer. I tried to change her mind because I’d already gone all the way down there but she still said ‘no’ so I may have gotten a little mad and just grabbed her and brought her to the airship. I’m sure she’ll change her mind eventually, I’m the Koopa King after all, who can say ‘no’ to me?”</p><p>Ah yes, the good old ‘I want it so it’s mine,’ logic that Bowser liked to employ. Really it was Kamek’s fault for letting him get away with that so much growing up. There was no point telling him that there was no possible way she’d change her mind after this. But that wasn’t much of a bother especially since unless she did something to <em>really</em> piss him off, he’d get tired of the game after a while anyway.</p><p>“Now,” Bowser said, his tone indicating the end of the conversation, “help me prepare a welcome party for her. The sooner she changes her mind, the better. And I need to figure out if she’ll be a good stepmom to Junior.”</p><p>
  <strong>[One Mario Game Later]</strong>
</p><p>“Fuck that fucking Mario bastard,” Bowser growled for probably the fourth time in the past hour as he got up from his throne to pace angrily back and forth again. “Who does he think he is, breaking in <em>my</em> castle and stealing back <em>my</em> princess?”</p><p>“Yes, fuck him Your Royal Furiousness,” Kamek replied in a deadpan as he inspected his handiwork in fixing his bent wand – he had spares of course but magic wands took a lot of effort to make so one getting damaged was aggravating. Personally, he was more frustrated than angry as anyone would be after getting trounced by a man who all sources indicated was just a plumber. But yelling, swearing, and pacing around the room wasn’t going to fix it and at this point was getting quite old.</p><p>Bowser huffed and spit out a stream of fire, thankfully not onto anything flammable. “Mark my words Kamek, this isn’t over! I’m going to kidnap Peach again and then if and when that red bastard shows up, I’m going <em>crush</em> him into the ground. And then the princess <em>will</em> be mine.”</p><p>“Yes sir.” Honestly Kamek was fine with that. The kingdom had clearly been at peace for too long; the troops were all inexperienced or rusty. Also, Kamek’s work thrived during conflict, testing new spells and/or new inventions worked best when it was a proper field test. So, both for his liege’s sake as well as his own, he was going to do his best to make sure they ultimately came out on top of this new conflict.</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>